A/N: Thank you for the kind reviews, they mean a lot. :)
"Come in Paul." Jeff's voice was deep, and rich, it was all Paul could do not to smile at him as if he were an old friend.
"Thank you Earth Prime. I'm sorry, but I don't really know the procedures for this kind of interview… what is supposed to happen?" Paul asked once they were both behind closed doors. Jeff let his grin show as he gestured to a seat for Paul, and took his own behind the big glass topped desk.
"Well, Paul. These interviews are relatively rare. We train few T-3s and above, Primes are even rarer." He rubbed his chin, and frowned. "Perhaps, tell me your thoughts about Ms. De la Venta."
Tenting his fingers, Paul looked into Earth Prime's eyes, feeling the older Talent's mind touching his own. "Well, her mind was unlike any I've ever encountered. It didn't follow the normal rules, but it didn't feel like it was naturally like that. Her mind was strong enough to hold mine and yours without strain… I wonder how she got that strong, where she came from, and why she wanted to get to Luna."
Jeff's mind ran along the surface of Paul's, filling all the tiny cracks in his walls, accessing every minute detail of his public mind. "That's good Paul, now, I know you can feel me reading your public mind, but I now must ask your permission to delve deeper. I need to do a deep read of your mind. It is your choice, however, make it well. If you refuse, you cannot be stationed off Terra, and most likely will be fired from FT&T. Such a termination will require you to pay back all the forwards you've received from FT&T, with interest. If you let me read you, provided you pass, you will be stationed off Terra, and will then be stationed with an eye for your own Tower. I don't tell you this to scare you, or make you choose how I would like. Rather, I want you informed."
Paul licked his lips. Setting his walls tight, he quickly thought to himself, I can refuse, and put myself in debt for the next twenty years, plus put myself back in my parents' home. Or, I can let him in and he'll see everything… this should be an easy choice… but it's not. My mind is my last refuge…
"Earth Prime, look all you want." Relaxing his mind, Paul lowered his walls, and tried to let his mind flow as freely as possible. Suddenly, there was a wave of thought filling his mind, seeping into each crevice of his being, soaking him in Earth Prime. He could feel Earth Prime reading each memory, each thought, paying more attention to the things that seemed important to Paul, and less to the mundane details of his life.
After what seemed like hours of treading water in molasses, Paul felt Jeff's mind pulling back from his own. Earth Prime smiled, and Paul could see the tension leaving his face and body.
"You passed, easily. Most people have something they don't want to give up… something they try to hide… you are remarkably open Paul, try to keep that. Trust that deep will make your friendships last through all your years." Turning in his chair, Earth Prime pulled up a few folders on the holo-screen. "There are currently three Towers I would like to station you at, Paul. All three are good stations where you'll learn very much, and get to use your considerable strength."
He clicked on the first folder, bringing up the details of Capella. The Prime was called by her station name, Capella, and she was getting on in years. She had been Towered before the Rowan and Jeff Raven were even born. She herself was Terran, but her staff was mainly of Capellan origin. The planet itself was extremely "dry". They lived by their Method, and expected all off-planet visitors to do so as well.
Jeff watched as Paul read the folder, and when he reached the end, the second folder was opened. Calisto. The Rowan was well known, even years after she first settled into the Tower on Jupiter's moon. Many of Paul's trainers had commented on how capricious she was, and how often she had changed her team of staff. Her mind was second only to Jeff Raven's, and when the two worked together, they were like no other pair. Something about living in a dome didn't appeal to Paul, and he sighed when he saw the next folder open.
Iota Aurigae was still a young planet, the colonists known as being more than self-reliant. Since the colony was established, it had quickly erased its debts and built up a healthy credit balance with the many military contracts they received after the Beetles attacked. Their Tower was manned by Damia Raven-Lyon, the daughter of the Rowan and Jeff Raven. Besides Damia, her husband Afra Lyon, and whichever of their children were home bolstered the small team of Talents that held the Tower.
Paul looked up, and laughed at the twinkle in Jeff Raven's eyes.
"I take it you want me to go to Iota Aurigae?"
"If I told you that, it wouldn't be your choice would it?" Jeff's eyes were shining now.
"Hmmm… Capella has always interested me. Greenies are interesting folk." He laughed loudly when Jeff's eyes boggled. "I joke, I joke. However, I would like to make one request. Can Mark and Sefran come with me? I work well with them, and would enjoy furthering that rapport."
"I'm sorry Paul, but the two of them need to go receive their training elsewhere. I'll consider your rapport later, but for now, you've each been assigned your own stationings." There was genuine regret in his eyes, so Paul steeled himself, and smiled.
"Well, they're only a thought away. When do I leave for Iota Aurigae?"
"Good attitude to have Paul. You'll leave as soon as you're ready. Though, of course you'll have time to make your goodbyes to your friends. Sefran should be outside my office right now. Step out there, speak to him for a moment, and then send him in here. Let me know when you're going to send him in." He tapped his temple, indicating that Paul was to path that news.
As Paul walked up to the door, it slid open, revealing the small lobby, once he was through it quietly whooshed closed behind him. Sitting quietly in a chair with his hands folded neatly, Sefran gave a quiet chuckle when he saw Paul.
"I should have known you'd be here. May I ask where you're being stationed?" He was polite, as always, but there was an underlying hint of familiar sarcasm.
"I'm off to Iota Aurigae… I missed Capella by the skin of my teeth." His face made an exaggerated caricature of a pious Methody Capellan.
"Now Paul, you would have been able to meet my family, if you'd gone to Capella. I'm sure Mother and Father would love to meet you." His tone was stern, but his smile belied it.
"Do you think Earth Prime will let me reconsider?" His wink and tone were enough to let Sefran know he wasn't serious. "I'm supposed to leave as soon as I've made my goodbyes. You know you can always path me, right Sefran? It doesn't matter if I'm in the Tower, asleep, any time day or night." Before the Capellan could object, Paul pulled him into a tight hug, and then released him.
I'll be sending him in, in a moment Earth Prime.
"Yes Paul, I know. You know that the same holds for you." With a smile, he turned and walked to the office door. "I'm to go in now, right?" The door slid open before Paul could say yea or nay.
Back in the dorm, Paul quietly packed everything he owned. It was a pathetically small pack, but it was all his. Mark had already left to spend his evening with his family, telling them the good news about his stationing at Altair. Paul held his resentment and bitterness in check. Mark was lucky he had a family who cared what happened to him. After a heartbeat of moping, Paul pulled out his info screen, and accessed the email program.
Mother and Father,
I am being stationed on Iota Aurigae, where I will finish my training as an FT&T Talent. If you need to contact me, send all communiqué there. Please do not be ashamed of me.
Paul
Sending that message took all the courage he had, but once the button was pressed, it was too late to do anything about it, so he moved on. Outside, in the station yard, Paul found Cargomaster Feldman.
"Well, Paul, I suppose you know where you're headed now, yes? Get in that pod over there, and we'll get Earth Prime to send you off in style." He said with a wink. Getting into the pod, Paul chuckled at how the crews leapt to obey the Cargomaster. Once he was settled, Paul felt Earth Prime pick up his carrier, breathing deeply, wondering when he would be transferred, how it would feel, what would happen. Then the pod opened.
"Hello? Anyone in there?" The voice was definitely feminine. Climbing out, Paul smiled to a room with a few Talents in it, mainly middle aged lower level Talents, but two minds stood out above the others.
"Yes, I'm here. Paul McHenry, reporting for duty at Iota Aurigae." He was polite, made his bow properly, and held his bag in just the proper manner.
"I like this one Damia, he has manners." A deep baritone voice chuckled. "Come up to the Tower so you can see the faces that go with the voices." It was only then that Paul realized the other two Talents had been Pathing to him.
Quickly climbing the steps, he walked into a fully functional Tower, with three couches, two in use at the moment. Lying on one was a petite woman with luxurious black hair, and a single white stripe, though she was graying at her temples. Next to her was a tall, lean Capellan who looked oddly like Sefran.
"Paul, my father thinks you'll mesh well with Afra and me, are you ready for a day's work? You happen to have arrived right at the beginning of our day, I know it was the end of yours when you left, but I hope you're up to it." Damia's voice matched her mental voice perfectly, and Paul smiled as he took the empty couch.
"I think I can handle anything you'll give me." His fingers danced across the panel, bringing up the data on their schedule. "Wooooeee! Look at those ore drones. Those are damn close to FT&T Max weights…"
"Yep, they're built to hold, at full capacity, exactly fifty pounds under max weight. They just need to make sure that their crew isn't too over-weighted." Damia's laughter was infectious, but Paul held it in, for fear of Afra's stern look.
"Paul, I want you to link with me first, and then I'll yield us over to Damia. We'll try linking this way today, and see if there's a better way tomorrow." Afra's mind touch was firm, and oddly minty, and as Paul's mind linked tightly with his, Paul felt the strength of it.
I thought your official rating was T-2? Paul queried the Capellan.
A deep chuckle resounded in his mind. Officially, yes. Years of working with the Rowan, and later my heart of hearts, have broadened my perceptions. I started out my FT&T career as a lowly T-4.
Realizing they were waiting on him, Paul relaxed his mind further, and just accepted Afra's guidance. After a heart beat of polite probing, Afra handed the link over to Damia, and when she took it the world seemed to shrink. Being in that link felt like holding enough power to reshape the cosmos.
Gentlemen, the day begins. Damia's voice was light and crisp as she 'reached' for the first drone. Paul, already you're worth having here. You're as helpful as any of my children, and you mesh right. Good on you.
Straining to keep his mind working strong, Paul didn't bother answering in words, and just let his gratitude and demurring fill his public mind. As the Prime sent the drone spinning out to Procyon, Paul felt a gentle tapping at his elbow.
"Keep your mind working with Damia, but focus on me now." Afra spoke out loud, "My duties involve organizing the line up of loads to be shipped. Right now, Damia's working through the list I set up this morning. What I want you to do is go through the list of shipping requests, organize them by priority and by fragility. Your info screen on the left panel will give you access to the systems you need."
As the Capellan spoke, Paul felt his mind tapped over and over again, sending packages hurtling through the void. Damia worked at a steady pace, and never drew too deeply on her link. The line up of packages appeared on the screen, and Paul's heart lurched. They were down to twelve items and Damia had the first of them in her grip. He quickly opened the requests system and began rifling through it, hunting out the most important shipments, the time sensitive ones, and those that were fragile or animate. By the time he had a list begun, Damia was down to three items in the original list. Just as she lifted the last item, Paul forwarded his new list of 25 items to her screen, and he sighed as she smiled.
"Good job Paul, timing is perfect." The twinkle in her eye was enough to raise Paul's flagging spirits. As the sun climbed into the sky, Paul heard an odd clicking noise, nothing like the noise of a failing generator, something he'd never heard before.
"OK, people, let's break for lunch. The 'dinis brought it down to the Tower for us, so no one need lift a finger." Damia didn't seem tired at all as she vaulted out of her couch, and pulled Afra to his feet. "Come on Paul, we need to introduce you to the staff."
Stepping through the doorway to the Tower steps, Paul stopped, standing stalk still. He had heard Damia say the 'dinis but it hadn't registered in his head that she meant there were mrdinis here. Gathering himself, Paul squelched all thoughts about their oddities (fur of all things!) and reminded himself that differences only make groups stronger. He didn't want to be like those idiots from home. Seating himself he thanked the dini that brought him a plate of steaming plate of Thai style curry fried rice. Smiling, he looked at Damia quizzically.
"We took the initiative to look into your dining habits when we heard you were coming here." Afra gave the answer, but Paul could feel agreement in Damia's mind.
"You did all that this morning? I only agreed to come here today." He was confused now, and guessing that Earth Prime had indeed planned for him to come here.
"My Father is known for his machinations. I'm sure you'll get used to them, just don't ever stop trying to be your own person. He hates that." Breaking off there, she clicked an odd series of noises at the 'dinis and turned back to Paul. "I just asked the 'dinis to take your bag up to the Family Home, unless you'd prefer staying with the Tower staff? There isn't much of a night life here, so you won't be missing much at all."
Touched, Paul bowed as much as his seated position would allow. "My thanks, I would love to live with you and your family. It might take some adjusting, from what I hear you have a large brood of children… I am my parents' only child, and my only cousin lives on the other side of North America." Damia and Afra laughed at his little speech.
"Well, you heard right. We do have a large brood, but you won't see many here. Our eldest is Prime on the Mrdini home world, her younger brothers are both roving Primes currently with the Navy, our next eldest daughter is a Medical T-1, the next two daughters are both on a Learning trip of duty with their older sister, and our youngest two went to live with their Great-Grandmother on Deneb. Isthia Raven was lacking in youngsters, so we loaned ours for the season." Damia smiled, and took a last bite of her own fried rice. "It's time to get back to work men, women, and 'dinis!"
Days passed and Paul's link with Damia and Afra grew stronger. It didn't take long for the two older Talents to begin relying on the younger, allowing him to man the Tower alone, to guide ports, and to handle some of the relatively rare mining emergencies that happened from time to time. As the weeks passed, Paul's strength and proficiency grew so that soon he was the equal to any Prime in the League. Finally, one morning came, where Paul found himself walking up the Tower steps with a new sense of confidence. His first load of the day was a personnel carrier with Damia and Afra inside it. They were going to pick up their youngest children and then visit Terra to let the children visit their Grandparents.
A quick port, and the pair was out of system, leaving Paul in charge on Iota Aurigae. Smiling, he ran his fingers over the panels, the couch, for a moment forgetting the other two couches, letting his mind idle and pretend that this was his own Tower. After a moment, the beep of the comm. unit out of his reverie.
"Prime, we have a schedule to keep to." The T-6 who was handling the scheduling while the Raven-Lyons were gone was a bit sticky about his pride, and the procedures that FT&T must follow. He also did not like having a 16 year old giving him orders.
"Yes then, send it to my info screen." Paul said and as it appeared, he listened for the generators to reach their peak, and then tapped them at just the right moment, sending the first drone flying through space. After the polite mental 'handshake' with Capella, he reached for the next drone, and settled into a neat rhythm. Drone after carrier, after drone after carrier, and soon he was lost in the pulse of the generator and his own thrust. It was a wonderful feeling, but almost as soon as he began enjoying it, the morning ended and it was time for the lunch break.
The moment he stepped into the Tower, the T-6 came to the stairs and stood in front of him. He was an Altairian, and older, old enough to be Paul's grandfather.
"Young man, you must learn first and foremost that the Prime must keep to his schedule and must care for the personnel under him." Before he could continue, Paul raised his hand, silencing the older man.
"My title, for now, is Prime. I run this Tower how I see fit. T-6 Merynt, you are out of line." Paul's voice was cool, and he did his best to keep himself from bursting.
"Fine then, 'Prime'. I still stand by my comment." He was doing his best to be insulting now.
"T-6, I do not think you are suited to my personality. I understand that Earth Prime felt you would be suited to assisting me while Prime Raven-Lyon and T-2 Lyon are off world, however, I think his judgment is faulty." Turning back to walk into the Tower, Paul stopped at the man's snorting noise.
"So the child Prime feels he can just get rid of anyone who disputes his management. Such a mature response." Paul ignored him, and continued into the Tower.
T-6 Merynt, into the personnel carrier. Can I get a generator online? Merynt, your belongings will be forwarded on to your next station. Paul felt the generator come online, and build power, then as it reached the perfect pitch, he tapped it, lifting the carrier off of Iota Aurigae. Earth Prime, please look into restationing Talent Merynt. The man is unsuited to working with me.
Of course Paul, may I ask why you feel he is unsuited?
Making sure Merynt could hear his voice, Paul replied He directly confronted me on a spurious issue in front of the entire station crew. While he made a valid point, his manner in bringing it to my attention was both insulting and caused a conflict in the station.
Very well Prime, I will send another Talent to you by the end of the work day on Iota Aurigae. Please forward FT&T's apologies to any clients whose shipments must be deferred due to your understaffing.
As Paul let his mind idle, he left the Tower and came back to the lunch room, he saw the shocked expressions on the faces of the Tower crew.
"I apologize for that unpleasantness. T-6 Merynt was unsuited to working with me; however, I do not want any of you to be afraid of coming to me with critique. However, there are proper lines of communication for that. Feel free to path me when we are not currently working on business, or send me an email. However, direct confrontations are not the method to use." He said that and sat down at a seat, reaching for a sandwich. "Thanks to whoever put this all together."
Chatter took a moment to come back, filling the small room, and Paul felt the tensions subsiding. It was always best to keep an open communication with the Tower crew. The rest of the day went by without occasion, and just as the day was ending, an emergency shipment warning came into Paul's info screen. It was from Terra, and Paul felt his hopes and fears rise. It was the replacement for Merynt.
His mind touched Earth Prime's but the older Talent wouldn't give anything away. As the transfer occurred, Paul tried probing the mind within the carrier and was shocked to find two minds. Smiling, he leapt from his couch and down the stairs just as Sefran and Mark appeared in the doorway. The three friends hugged, talked, and were about to begin chatting more, when Paul felt a gentle probe in his mind, he blushed and smiled at his friends.
"We've got a little bit left in the work day lads, do you mind waiting here for me?"
"Why should we wait? Show us into your Tower, and let us help you out." Mark was still Mark.
Within moments, the three young men were working, their minds linked so closely that an outsider wouldn't be able to tell where one ended and the next began. Within minutes they had sent all the remaining shipments out, received the last of the incoming, and were looking for more.
As the three young Talents walked down the stairs, the older Talents of the crew began porting away, driving off to their respective homes, or even just walking back to the town. Paul looked at his friends and couldn't help but laugh. They stood there, holding their bags, and looking lost.
"Boys, I don't think Damia and Afra would mind you occupying the spare rooms in their home while you're here. Why don't you come back with me?" With a smile and a wink, Paul wrapped his mind around the three Talents and ported them into the Family room of the Raven-Lyon home.
A/N: So... reviews, critique, flames, whatever you've got for me. :)